Professor Xavier and Magneto (Lehnsherr) have one of the most interesting relationships in all of fiction (in my opinion). You have two men on opposite views of an issue, fighting violently about it and are true trusted friends. You would think their origin story would be accurate in a movie. You would be wrong and I would be disappointed.
I knew going into the movie that characters would be messed up. I knew the original X-men weren't going to be in the movie. I figured that they would at least make the meeting, building of a relationship and strong friendship between Xavier and Magneto up to the standards that it deserves.
In the comics Xavier and Lehnsherr meet in a Holocaust survivor clinic in Israel where Lehnsherr is a volunteer and Xavier is visiting a friend. They become fast friends debating on what would happen to humanity if a "superior" race of human were to emerge. They have different views where Xavier has faith in humanity while Lehnsherr was a Holocaust survivor and thinks humanity would try and oppress this "hypothetical" minority group. They then end up revealing that they're both mutants in a fight and separating ways.
The movie shows Xavier saving Lehnsherr as Lehnsherr tries to catch Sebastian Shaw. They then start to locate mutants in the world to train and help them stop Shaw... in a montage. Did they really just develop the relationship between two of the most powerful mutants, the relationship that created the basis of 4 movies and countless comics in a fucking MONTAGE?!
The cherry to top this shit sundae is how they get Xavier to lose the use of his legs. The now "Magneto" wants to kill the humans with the missiles they have just fired upon them. Xavier disagrees. During the "struggle" Magneto deflects a bullet and it hits Xavier in the spine paralyzing him.
Horse shit.
In a much less dramatic fashion, Xavier in (comic book) fact had his legs crushed by a giant rock during a fight with an alien.
I get why the changes were made. I understand they have to make it accessable to a wider audience. I'm just not ok with it, because I know it so well.
Good things about this movie (this is much shorter):
The acting was great. Michael Fassbender's portrayal of Magento was excellent. I also really liked Jennifer Lawrence. I'm waiting to see how she does in the upcoming Hunger Games movie(s). The best part was the history tie-in with the plot. Great setting for a movie.
The movie was good. If you're a comic book fan and pretend this is just a rip off of your beloved X-men then you'll like it a lot. If you just like summer action movies, you'll love it. I'll have to watch it again in a few months. I'm sure I'll like it then.
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